THE BEST day of mommy's life

Mommy said that today is probably THE BEST day of her entire life until now. You know why? Because when she was getting me ready for bed, I walked away toward the night table and she said to me, "Isabelle, can I have a kiss?" and I turned around midway, looked at her, and walked right over and kissed her lips. So, then she made me kiss her over and over and over again! I know what a kiss is now and I love to give them to mommy!

Daddy's next...

My first birthday party!

Yesterday I had a bunch of friends over to celebrate my first birthday. Mommy and Daddy had some of their friends over, too. The best part about it all was that everyone was there to celebrate ME!

We had a lot of fun running around, playing in the sandbox, riding bikes and mini motorcycles, and finally hitting the ice cream shaped pinata.

Everyone sang Happy Birthday to me- once in English and once in Portuguese. Then, I got to dig in to my very own piece of carrot birthday cake (mommy made it) and vanilla ice cream.

The bigger kids also got to put all sorts of toppings on their ice cream- oreos, marshmallows, strawberries, gummy bears, and chocolate chips. These are my friends Zak, Alexa, Lucas and Nico eating their ice cream.

And here is Luca.

It was yuuuuuumy!

Mommy and Daddy had a lot of fun too. Mommy told me not to tell anyone, but she cried a little bit... she said it was because I was getting to be such a big girl and she loves me soooo much.

Hey, everyone, look at me!

Look at what a big girl I am now!!

Gardening

Friday's weather was so nice that Mommy brought me outside to garden with her when she got home from work. Our garden is doing really well, suprisingly. We have gotten lots of romaine and mesclun from it so far. Now we're waiting for our newly planted tomatoes and zucchini to grow.

There were lots of firsts that day- the first time I gardened; the first radish; the first time I pushed myself up to standing from sitting down; and the first time I ate a fistful of dirt. Yum, yum!

Happy 4th of July

I got all set for 4th of July BBQ with my patriotic red, white and blue outfit, special clips and sandals that Auntie Kelly bought me. Once I was ready, mommy asked me to help make a salad with her. So, I got to dry the lettuce in the salad spinner. Sooo much fun!

Carmel

Part of the reason we went to California this summer was to go to my Mommy's friend's wedding in Carmel. We had a really nice time there and I got to meet more of Mommy's friends from Washington, D.C. I was really lucky that Grandma came with us because I got to spend some special alone time with her. We visited a church garden to look at flowers, stopped in a children's gallery and got Ripsqueak books, and visited Carmel Beach to see the Pacific Ocean.

4 generations

Me, Mommy, Grandma, and Great Grandma-

All together in California!